Photographer Irving Penn has passed away. One of the most versatile photographers ever, he has shaped the medium for the past 65 years. He pioneered fashion, portraits and still lives with a signature simplicity and elegance. If you work in the art world, it’s a sad loss.
Wow, back in Philly, recovering from BBQ & information overload. Can’t believe how much we packed into a couple days in Memphis. So, I guess you’re wondering what happened with Command X—who won, etc. Well, I’m happy to report that Monina Velarde from Wheaton, IL is the new Command X champion!
All the best designers wear glasses
I can’t explain enough how completely surreal last night was for me. Sometimes I feel like my life is a movie, you just can’t make this kind of stuff up. I went from bumbling Command X contestant to guest judge within two conference’s time. At this rate, next time I’ll be an opening night speaker. Yeah, that’s a stretch, settle to be guest DJ next time for the Design Observer party at least.
It has begun. Command X is in full swing and boy was it strange to experience it as an observer this time around. I was surprised as we entered the ballroom a little bit by its size. It’s much more intimate than what we were dealing with in Denver, the stage much closer to the audience.
The night started out with some great speakers and presentations including Al Bell from Stax, who spoke about the power of creativity and courage, Stefan Sagmeister, who detailed his sabbatical and lead us all in song, and Carin Goldberg, who won my heart with her motto for the evening: fear-hope-disco. She then danced on stage to her favorite disco jam while images of her entire body of work flashed on screen to the beat. Amazing.
On Tuesday October 13th, we are opening our doors to the public for Counter. Culture., a DesignPhiladelphia event promoting the De’Longhi Artista Series, a limited-edition line of laser-etched espresso machines featuring the designs of ten internationally recognized artists including fashion designer Nicole Miller, jewelry designer John Hardy, and interior designer Kelly Hoppen. Come enjoy refreshments and hors’doeuvres at 160over90, and meet with featured artists Mike Perry, Damien Correll, and Mario Hugo.
The De’Longhi Artista Series demonstrates De’Longhi’s century-old devotion to functional, beautiful objects. The collection of limited-edition espresso machines will be on display for the final time before being auctioned to the public through eBay Giving Works. (The auction runs from October 4-18, 2009. Interested? Place your bid here.) Proceeds will benefit Oxfam America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the fight against poverty and social injustice.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP by Monday October 12th, to rsvp@160over90.com. We look forward to seeing you there!
Our friends at Google continue to impress us with user-friendly online tools. They have brought us countless online applications, including Google Maps, and the ever so popular Street Views which has influenced the way the world views, well the world, not to mention caught some pretty weird stuff. Now, they are trying to start the Wave. This new tool will be launched in the coming months under the title Google Wave. An open-sourced online tool, Google continues to draw upon the collective minds of our generation to continue to elaborate upon an already pretty handy little gadget. Over Twitter already? Start a Twave.
The demo is a little lengthy so here is the abridged version.
Here is the pitch:
A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.
A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.
Want to sign up? You will have wait for your invite. Will Google wave us into the future?